Apocalyptic Days and Wins
Tuesday was an apocalyptic day. *cymbal crash*Usually, apocalyptic days aren't good... as in end-of-the-world badness.We're smack in the middle of getting the home we've lived in for 34 years ready to sell so we can downsize to a much smaller house.One of the hoops we decided to jump through before putting our home on the market is a series of three inspections.
- Yesterday we had the septic tank inspection. We didn't pass. (Poop happens.)
- Then the results of the pest inspection arrived via email. Again, we failed. (Termites found us.)
Mid-afternoon, as I'm discussing these results with our real estate agent, I hear a scream from the back bedroom.My retired pastor-husband, who worked as a house painter during college, had stepped off a ladder into a can of paint, spilling it all over the newly cleaned carpet and turning his dirty socks into a lovely shade of winter white. (He doesn't wear shoes when he paints inside the house.)His pride was broken, but no bones.So off I went to order new carpet and schedule a time for installing it as soon as possible.By now we're talking major $$ for all the repairs we're facing, AND we still have one more inspection to go! (Scheduled for tomorrow.)To wrap up the day, one of our kids told us his ex-wife wants full custody of their son and is planning to move out of state. You can imagine what my son's father heart is going through. He lives for the three days a week he gets to have his boy. And what it would do to my grandson to be separated from his dad? Not good. And yes, I'd appreciate some prayer on this.
All in all, it seemed like an apocalyptic day
But as I stood back and observed the day happening around me I discovered something.I hadn't panicked. No doom and gloom had hung over any of the events. I felt the peace, rest and care of the Lord as each new negative report landed in my lap.All of these things were outside of my control.All demanded my simple trust that God is in the midst of our bad reports and already has a plan in motion to solve these problems.
I'm two months into my theme-for-framing-my-life-in-2018...
Faith that wears trust like a beautiful, white, flowing garment of grace.
...and I actually see RESULTS!Positive results are huge for me, guys.Yes, I've had to "put the time in" musing with the Lord, finding His promises for me on this 2018 journey, and listening to His counsel.It's worth it.I don't like apocalyptic days. I've had too many of them in my life.To have trust cushioned in the peace that isn't shaken by bad news means a lot to me.To say this is a new journey for me wouldn't be true. I've been walking it quite a while. But the decision to focus on trust more purposefully this year is fresh.And I'm passing the test of fire.I'm sure there will be many more. That's how life works.But it's nice to have a win now and then, isn't it?
How are you doing in your fiery tests?
Is trust resting securely in peace?It won't cost you a penny to give yourself an evaluation and set aside some regular time with the Lord to nurture those areas that need attention.So go for it. We want to see some wins, girl!Hugs,SusanP.S. Watch for the March newsletter. It comes out next week.